Cape Cod’s Biggest Holiday Party to Benefit the Arts

Once again, the biggest holiday party on the Cape will be hosted by Land’s End Inn, 22 Commercial Street, Provincetown. This year the party will be held on Friday, Dec. 6 from 4:00 to 8:00, opening the festive Holly Folly weekend, and benefitting the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM).

The Land’s End Inn, built by Charles Lothrop Higgins in 1904 and full of art and antiques, is considered the Cape tip’s most luxurious inn and is known for its distinctive hospitality. Provincetown, our country’s oldest, continually operating art colony, is a vibrant community that draws artists and art collectors from around the globe.

The Land’s End Inn Holiday Party brings signature cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, DJ entertainment and hundreds of guests in all sorts of finery to this historic treasure located high atop Gull Hill in Provincetown’s West End. A silent auction and raffle for fantastic prizes - original art, dining, spa services, travel, etc. - along with the $10 requested donation will benefit PAAM.

Art lovers and current owners of Land’s End Inn, Stan and Eva Sikorski, are continuing the Inn’s long support of the arts by hosting the Land’s End Inn Holiday Party in honor of PAAM100 A Century of Inspiration, a centennial celebration of art and the Provincetown community, where modern American art was born, and some of the past century’s greatest artworks were created. From Charles Hawthorne to Hans Hofmann, from Ross Moffett to Robert Motherwell and the 775 artists who are members of PAAM today, generations have found inspiration and support in Provincetown: Artists trading paintings for lodging at local guesthouses and private homes; accepting meals from fishermen sharing their day’s catch; exchanging artwork with tradesmen, restaurateurs, and home owners for ordinary considerations.

Within this unique environment, PAAM began as a partnership between artists and business people, and 100 years later, the Land’s End Holiday Party shows the strength of this community collaboration. Over the past 100 years, PAAM has evolved from a modest, local arts organization to one of the most innovative, successful and acclaimed arts centers in the United States. Unlike other art museums, PAAM is also an art association, which means its focus on the Provincetown community is fundamental to its mission and purpose. The Museum has been a center of artistic recognition, learning and inspiration for generations, and has in recent years presented such landmark exhibitions as focused surveys of Edwin Dickinson, Will Barnet and Robert Motherwell, to name a few. Presenting these great artists’ work in the context of the creative environment that inspired them is fundamental to PAAM. Simply put, these exceptional events could not have originated anywhere else, and would not have happened without PAAM.

Higgins, the original owner of the Inn, was born in Provincetown in 1863, and lived in Boston’s Beacon Hill and Back Bay neighborhoods. He was a haberdasher on Newbury Street who built his summer home in Provincetown. As a founding member of PAAM in 1914, Mr. Higgins began Land’s End Inn’s long history of supporting Provincetown’s creative community.

For nearly half a century, the late David Schoolman was the proprietor of Land’s End Inn. An art and theater enthusiast, he hosted holiday gatherings around his renowned 12-foot tall holiday tree. The opulent affair, accented by elegant outfits and outrageous costumes, was the talk of Cape Cod. Innkeeper Michael MacIntyre carried this tradition into the 21st century, drawing guests from across the country and beyond.

PAAM100 A Century of Inspiration is, by design, not just a celebration of PAAM, but also a celebration of Provincetown. The town remains one of the nation’s only true continuing artists’ communities, and PAAM plays a pivotal role in ensuring its vitality: fostering inspiration and learning, and presenting great artists’ work in within the creative environment that inspired them.